The Knights lost 19-0 to Drew in its first region game in three years.
Drew scored on the first drive with minimal time on a 34-yard pass which head coach Leroy Hood said set the tone for the rest of the game.
“[We] came out slow, defense gave up a quick score that first drive, settled down after that, but offense never really got a rhythm,” Hood said.
Continuing in the first quarter, Drew completed a second touchdown pass from 19 yards, bringing the score to 13-0.
“Drew’s two touchdown passes were long and could’ve been prevented if we had the right alignments,” junior linebacker Robert Rude said.
The Knights suffered three injuries throughout the game making them adjust their lineup.
“[The injuries] affected the game a lot,” Hood said. “Hopefully nothing major, but we did lose a star in offensive tackle as well as two stars in defensive back. That’s always something you gotta deal with, but it’s the ‘next man up’ mentality, so the next person is going to have to come in and fit and play his role.”
Junior running back Cam Austin was injured in the second quarter which Hood said hurt the pace of the game.
“Cameron ran the ball really hard and when he came out the game changed the momentum as far as offense and our efficiency,” Hood said.
After Austin went down, senior wide receiver and defensive back Kenari Tigner got injured on a punt return where he didn’t call a fair catch, additionally affecting the Knights’ offense.
“[The injury] opened my eyes to be more aware and make better decisions,” Tigner said. “It was a bad decision by me.”
Starting quarterback senior Noah Morrison got injured earlier in the season making senior Ethan Ward change from running back to quarterback. This was one of Ward’s first games back as quarterback.
“I think the reason for the trick plays was because Ethan is still getting used to playing quarterback again,” senior guard Henry Hanlon said. “So being creative and getting all of our playmakers involved takes some pressure off of him.”
The Knights’ offense struggled in the second half throwing four interceptions.
“I think [on offense] the turnovers were the most impactful plays,” Hanlon said. “We would get some good momentum on offense and turn the ball over. My hopes for the future are that we can eliminate all the mental errors on offense and make sure everyone is on the same page. If we do that we should be able to start winning more games.”
The Knights were left scoreless the entire game. Defensively in the second half the Knights only let up 6 points versus the 13 points let up in the first half.
“Overall defense played a better second half and a better third quarter, but [on] offense we have to figure it out with injuries and things like that. We have to figure out a way to manufacture points and do away with the turnovers,” Hood said.
The only six points Drew Charter scored in the second half was off of a pick-six at the end of the 4th quarter. Tigner said the Knights’ defensive efforts in the second half were important however the offense couldn’t take advantage of them.
“The most impactful plays were the stops we had [on defense],” Tigner said. “We still couldn’t get going on offense. We had chances, but we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Despite the loss Hood is motivated to do well in the Knights’ next region game against Forest Park on Sept. 19th and stay strong for the remainder of the season.
“We need to stay positive,” Hood said. “Still got an incredible opportunity to win next week and go 1-1 and position ourselves to be in the playoffs; that’s our ultimate goal is to make the playoffs. [Forest Park] is going to be just as hungry as we are, and they’re going to come out fired up, and we have to match their intensity. This [game] right here does not determine the rest of our season, and we still have plenty more ball to play.”
